page_title: Actin
section_title: Associated proteins
hierarchical_section_title: Actin / Assembly dynamics / Associated proteins
caption_attribution_description: atomic structure of bovine Arp2/3 protein complex, PDB code 1K8K, surface representation, rendered with PyMol, color coding for subunits: Arp3, orange; Arp2, marine (subunits 1 &amp; 2 not resolved and thus not shown); p40, green; p34, ice blue; p20, dark blue; p21, magenta; p16, yellow.
context_page_description: Actin is a family of globular multi-functional proteins that form microfilaments. It is found in essentially all eukaryotic cells, where it may be present at a concentration of over 100 μM; its mass is roughly 42-kDa, with a diameter of 4 to 7 nm.
  An actin protein is the monomeric subunit of two types of filaments in cells: microfilaments, one of the three major components of the cytoskeleton, and thin filaments, part of the contractile apparatus in muscle cells. It can be present as either a free monomer called G-actin or as part of a linear polymer microfilament called F-actin, both of which are essential for such important cellular functions as the mobility and contraction of cells during cell division.
  Actin participates in many important cellular processes, including muscle contraction, cell motility, cell division and cytokinesis, vesicle and organelle movement, cell signaling, and the establishment and maintenance of cell junctions and cell shape. Many of these processes are mediated by extensive and intimate interactions of actin with cellular membranes. In vertebrates, three main groups of actin isoforms, alpha, beta, and gamma have been identified.
context_section_description: The actin cytoskeleton in vivo is not exclusively composed of actin, other proteins are required for its formation, continuance, and function. These proteins are called actin-binding proteins (ABP) and they are involved in actin's polymerization, depolymerization, stability, organisation in bundles or networks, fragmentation, and destruction. The diversity of these proteins is such that actin is thought to be the protein that takes part in the greatest number of protein-protein interactions. For example, G-actin sequestering elements exist that impede its incorporation into microfilaments. There are also proteins that stimulate its polymerization or that give complexity to the synthesizing networks.
  Thymosin β-4 is a 5 kDa protein that can bind with G-actin-ATP in a 1:1 stoichiometry; which means that one unit of thymosin β-4 binds to one unit of G-actin. Its role is to impede the incorporation of the monomers into the growing polymer.
  Profilin, is a cytosolic protein with a molecular weight of 15 kDa, which also binds with G-actin-ATP or -ADP with a stoichiometry of 1:1, but it has a different function as it facilitates the replacement of ADP nucleotides by ATP. It is also implicated in other cellular functions, such as the binding of proline repetitions in other proteins or of lipids that act as secondary messengers.
  Other proteins that bind to actin regulate the length of the microfilaments by cutting them, which gives rise to new active ends for polymerization. For example, if a microfilament with two ends is cut twice, there will be three new microfilaments with six ends. This new situation favors the dynamics of assembly and disassembly. The most notable of these proteins are gelsolin and cofilin. These proteins first achieve a cut by binding to an actin monomer located in the polymer they then change the actin monomer's conformation while remaining bound to the newly generated (+) end. This has the effect of impeding the addition or exchange of new G-actin subunits. Depolymerization is encouraged as the (-) ends are not linked to any other molecule.
  Other proteins that bind with actin cover the ends of F-actin in order to stabilize them, but they are unable to break them. Examples of this type of protein are CapZ, which binds the (+) ends depending on a cell's levels of Ca²⁺/calmodulin. These levels depend on the cell's internal and external signals and are involved in the regulation of its biological functions). Another example is tropomodulin (that binds to the (-) end). Tropomodulin basically acts to stabilize the F-actin present in the myofibrils present in muscle sarcomeres, which are structures characterized by their great stability.
  The Arp2/3 complex is widely found in all eukaryotic organisms. It is composed of seven subunits, some of which possess a topology that is clearly related to their biological function: two of the subunits, ARP2 and ARP3, have a structure similar to that of actin monomers. This homology allows both units to act as nucleation agents in the polymerization of G-actin and F-actin. This complex is also required in more complicated processes such as in establishing dendritic structures and also in anastomosis (the reconnection of two branching structures that had previously been joined, such as in blood vessels).
caption: Atomic structure of Arp2/3.[73] Each colour corresponds to a subunit: Arp3, orange; Arp2, sea blue (subunits 1 and 2 are not shown); p40, green; p34, light blue; p20, dark blue; p21, magenta; p16, yellow.
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